Molding manufacturing method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A molding manufacturing method includes: preparing a molding body including a molding main body made of thermoplastic material and a decorative layer higher than the molding main body in hardness and melt temperature; setting the molding body in a fixed die; heating and softening an end portion of the molding body while maintaining the decorative layer softer than the molding main body, by irradiating an infrared ray onto a back surface of the molding main body corresponding to the end portion; and press forming the end portion of the molding body by applying a movable punch onto the fixed die while the end portion of the molding body is in a softened state to bend the end portion of the molding body to obtain an end cover portion having a predetermined shape.

This application is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No.10/720,081, filed Nov. 25, 2003, which claims priority of JapanesePatent Application Nos. 2002-342648, filed on Nov. 26, 2002; 2002-342649filed on Nov. 26, 2002; and 2002-365393 filed on Dec. 17, 2002, whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a molding manufacturing method andapparatus for manufacturing a molding having an end cover portion with apredetermined shape out of a long molding body of thermoplastic materialby the extrusion molding, by press forming an end portion of the moldingbody.

2. Background Art

When the press working (bending) is applied to the end portion of themolding body (molding material) made of thermoplastic material in theordinary temperature condition without heating or softening the endportion, the bending portion may be damaged or may not be formed into apredetermined bent shape due to the elastic restoring force thereof.

Conventionally, it is therefore normal that the press working (bending)is applied to the end portion of the molding body while heating andsoftening the end portion by the heating device, so that the moldinghaving the end cover portion with a predetermined shape is manufactured(For example, see Japanese Patent No. 2966315 (pages 2 to 3, FIGS. 1 to9) and JIII Journal of Technical Disclosure No. 98-6152).

Meanwhile, in the molding manufacturing method of applying the pressworking to the end portion of the molding body made of thermoplasticmaterial in the condition that such end portion is heated and softened,a decorative surface of the end portion of the molding body is alsoheated and softened. Therefore, in the molding (molding product) formedof the molding body, there arises a problem that scratches such asunevenness may occur on the decorative surface of the end cover portionor its neighborhood and thus its outward appearance is worsened.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problem. It isan object of the present invention to provide molding manufacturingmethod and apparatus capable of satisfactorily forming an end portion ofa molding body by the press working and thus preventing occurrence ofthe distortions such as unevenness on the decorative surface of the endcover portion and its neighborhood formed in this manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the object, the invention provides a molding manufacturingmethod, including: preparing a long molding body including a moldingmain body made of thermoplastic material and a decorative layer higherthan the molding main body in hardness and melt temperature, the moldingmain body and the decorative layer formed integrally so that thedecorative layer is provided along a longitudinal direction of themolding main body on a surface thereof; setting the molding body in afixed die; heating and softening an end portion of the molding bodywhile maintaining a condition in which the decorative layer is harderthan the molding main body, by irradiating an infrared ray onto a backsurface of the molding main body corresponding to the end portion of themolding body; and press forming the end portion of the molding body bypressing a movable punch onto the fixed die while the end portion of themolding body is in a heated and softened state to bend the end portionof the molding body to obtain an end cover portion having apredetermined shape.

According to the invention, since the near infrared ray is irradiatedonto the back surface side of the molding main body that corresponds tothe end portion of the molding body, the end portion of the molding bodycan be heated and softened satisfactorily while keeping the temperatureof the decorative layer side lower than the temperature of the backsurface side and also keeping a state that a softened level of thedecorative layer is still lower than the molding main body. In addition,it can be prevented that the normal portions except the end portion ofthe molding body are heated and softened and thermally deformedunexpectedly.

As a result, the decorative layer is not excessively heated, damagescaused by contacting to the molding mold can be prevented, and thepleasant decorative layer can be still maintained.

Also, because the near infrared heating is employed, the heating of theend portion of the molding body can be easily controlled by theelectrical control. In addition, the partial areas that need the heatingcan be heated precisely in proper quantities.

Preferably, in the heating and softening step, an irradiation amount ofthe infrared ray onto the back surface of the molding main body is madealternately increase and decrease with a lapse of time.

According to the invention, the infrared ray is irradiated onto the backsurface side of the molding main body in the end portion of the moldingbody while changing an irradiation amount of the infrared ray toincrease and decrease alternately with a lapse of time. Therefore, theback surface side of the end portion of the molding body is heated bythe heat radiation and the surface side (decorative layer side) isheated by the thermal conduction from the back surface side. At thistime, since the back surface side is never heated excessively, suchdisadvantages can be prevented that the back surface of the end portionof the molding body is heated excessively and melt away, a burn occurs,etc.

Preferably, in the heating and softening step, a near infrared ray isirradiated by the use of a near infrared heating device.

Therefore, the molding main body in the end portion of the molding bodycan be heated and softened quickly by a penetrating energy, which is onecharacteristic of the near infrared ray, from the back surface to theinner side.

Preferably, the near infrared heating device includes a near infraredlamp and a reflecting mirror for reflecting a light emitted from thenear infrared lamp to form a focal point; and the near infrared ray isirradiated substantially uniformly onto the back surface of the moldingmain body from a position separated farther than a focal length of thereflecting mirror.

According to the invention, since the near infrared ray is irradiatedalmost uniformly onto the back-surface side area of the molding mainbody, the molding main body can be heated and softened substantiallyuniformly over the almost full-length of the end portion of the moldingbody. Also, the energy required of the heating can be used effectively.

The invention provides a molding manufacturing method including:preparing a long molding body including a molding main body made ofthermoplastic material and a decorative layer higher than the moldingmain body in hardness and melt temperature, the molding main body andthe decorative layer formed integrally so that the decorative layer isprovided along a longitudinal direction of the molding main body on asurface thereof; setting the molding body in a fixed die; heating andsoftening an end portion of the molding body while maintaining acondition in which the decorative layer is harder than the molding mainbody; and press forming the end portion of the molding body by movingthe movable punch obliquely toward the fixed die along a predeterminedexcursion such that the movable punch fits with the fixed die at an endof the excursion, to bend the end portion of the molding body.

The invention provides a molding manufacturing method including:extrusion molding a molding body including a molding main body, a legportion and a pair of protruding portions, the molding main portionintegrally laminated with a decorative layer harder than the moldingmain body, the leg portion protruding from a back surface of the moldingmain body, the pair of protruding portions each protruding from one ofboth sides of the leg portion in a width direction of the molding mainbody; cutting the molding body into a cut piece having a predeterminedlength; removing the protruding portions from a back side of an endportion of the cut piece to form a first region thereon; removing theprotruding portions and the leg portion from a second region consecutivewith a distal side of the first region to form a step between the firstregion and the second region on the back side; positioning the cut piecein a longitudinal direction thereof by bringing the step into contactwith the fixed die; heating and softening an end portion of the cutpiece while maintaining a condition in which the decorative layer isharder than the molding main body, by irradiating an infrared ray onto aback surface of the molding main body corresponding to the end portionof the molding body; and press forming the end portion of the cut pieceby pressing a movable punch onto the fixed die while the end portion ofthe cut piece is in a heated and softened state to bend the end portionof the cut piece to obtain an end cover portion having a predeterminedshape.

The invention provides a molding manufacturing apparatus, including: afixed die into which a molding body is to be set; a movable platearranged movably in forward and backward directions substantiallyperpendicular to a reference line along a longitudinal direction of themolding body set in the fixed die; a movable punch attached on themovable plate and guided movably in forward and backward directionssubstantially perpendicular to a moving direction of the movable plate;and a driving mechanism for driving the movable punch to move forwardwhen the movable plate is moved forward;

wherein the movable punch is moved in an oblique direction to close thefixed die therewith to press form an end portion of the molding body,the oblique direction being a synthesized direction of a forward movingdirection of the movable plate and a forward moving direction of themovable punch.

Preferably, the driving mechanism includes a driving source and alinking member which transmits a driving force of the driving source tothe movable punch to shift the movable punch.

Preferably, the driving mechanism includes a cam mechanism having a camfollower and a cam groove.

Preferably, each of the fixed die and the movable punch has a formingsurface for pressing the end portion of the molding body to bend at asubstantially right angle.

Preferably, each of the fixed die and the movable punch has a formingsurface for pressing the end portion of the molding body to bend at anacute angle or an obtuse angle.

The invention provides a molding manufacturing method for manufacturinga molding having an end cover portion shaped in a predetermined shapeout of a long molding body, comprising preparing a molding apparatusincluding a fixed die, a first movable punch to be used to close thefixed die, and a second movable punch, the fixed die having a backforming surface for forming a back surface of the end cover portion, thefirst movable punch having a front forming surface for forming a frontsurface of the end cover portion, and the second movable punch capableof changing a volume of a cavity formed between the front formingsurface and the back forming surface; setting the molding body in thefixed die in a state that an end portion of the molding body protrudesfrom an end of the fixed die; heating and softening the end portion;moving the first movable punch to close the fixed die therewith, whilebringing the first movable punch into contact with the end portion tobend the end portion in a back surface side thereof, to form an endbending portion in the cavity; and moving the second movable punch so asto reduce the volume of the cavity to apply a compressive force to theend bending portion to press a material forming the end bending portionclosely onto the front and back surfaces, while keeping the vicinity ofa bending center portion of the end bending portion in a fluid.

According to the invention, the end portion of the molding formingportion is bent toward the back surface side by moving forward the firstmovable punch. Then, the end bending portion is formed by the endportion in the cavity between both forming surfaces of the fixed die andthe first movable punch.

Then, the compressive force is applied to the end bending portion bymoving the second movable punch in the direction that reduces a volumeof the cavity. Thus, the material constituting the end bending portionis compressed and filled in the cavity, and pushed tightly against theforming surface of the mold to transfer a shape of the forming surfaceto the material, whereby the end cover portion is formed.

Since the end cover portion is formed in this manner, occurrence of theuneven distortion on the surface (decorative surface) of the end coverportion can be prevented. Therefore, the molding having the end coverportion with the good-looking appearance can be manufacturedeffectively.

Preferably, the first movable punch has an internal angle portion formedcontinuously with the front forming surface and having a radius ofcurvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a surface of the endbending portion.

According to the invention, when the end portion of the molding body isbent toward the back surface side by the forward moving motion of thefirst movable punch, such end portion is bent upon the back surface sideas the bending center and thus the surface side of the end portion isextended in the longitudinal direction. Then, the surface side of theend bending portion is bent with a radius of curvature that is largerthan a radius of curvature of the internal angle portion of the firstmovable punch. For this reason, a clearance is generated between theinternal angle portion of the first movable punch and the surface of thebent portion of the end bending portion.

After the end bending portion is formed, the second movable punch ismoved in the direction that reduces a volume of the cavity during whenat least the neighborhood of the bending center portion of the endbending portion is kept in its fluid state. As a result, the compressiveforce is applied to the end bending portion and then the material of theend bending portion flows into the clearance on the inner side of theinternal angle portion of the first movable punch to contact tightly it.Then, the material of the end bending portion is cooled and solidifiedin this condition, whereby the end cover portion having a sharp edgeportion that coincides with a shape of the internal angle portion of thefirst movable punch is formed.

Preferably, the step of moving the second movable punch includes: movingforward the second movable punch from a distal end of the end bendingportion in a direction to shorten a length of the end bending portion.

Therefore, the material of the end bending portion can be compressedeffectively by the forward moving motion of the second movable punch.

Preferably, in the step of moving the first movable punch, the endportion is bent while a temperature of a distal end of the endingbending portion is reduced than a temperature of a bending center of theending portion.

Preferably, in the step of moving the first movable punch, the endportion is bent while a hardness of a distal end of the ending portionis higher than a hardness of a bending center of the ending portion.

According to the invention, when the end portion of the molding formingportion is bent in the cavity by the forward moving motion of the firstmovable punch to form the end bending portion and then the secondmovable punch is moved forward and the pushing surface at its top endcomes into contact with the material of the top end of the end bendingportion, the hardness of the top end side of the end bending portion iskept high rather than the neighborhood of the center portion.Accordingly, leakage of the material in the neighborhood of the top endportion of the end bending portion to the outside of the cavity can beprevented. In other words, the material of the end bending portion canbe compressed without shortage, and thus the end cover portion having apleasant external appearance can be formed by preventing disadvantagescaused due to lack of the compressive force.

Preferably, in the setting step, the protruding end portion of themolding body is set longer than a length of the end cover portion to befinally formed and shorter than a length of the front forming surface ofthe first movable punch; in the step of moving the first movable punch,the first movable punch closes the fixed die so that an end of the endbending portion remains in the cavity; and, in the step of moving thesecond movable punch, the second movable punch is moved toward apart ofthe cavity opposing to the end of the bending portion.

The invention provides a molding manufacturing apparatus formanufacturing a molding having an end cover portion shaped in apredetermined shape out of a long molding body, including: a fixed diehaving a back forming surface for forming a back surface of the endcover portion; a first movable punch to be used to close the fixed die,the first movable punch having a front forming surface for forming afront surface of the end cover portion; and a second movable punchcapable of changing a volume of a cavity formed between the frontforming surface and the back forming surface.

Preferably, the first movable punch has an internal angle portion beingformed continuously with the front forming surface and having a radiusof curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a surface of an endbending portion of the molding body, the end bending portion to beformed into the end cover portion.

According to the invention, when the material of the end bending portionis compressed by moving the second movable punch, a part of the materialis filled into the clearance on the inner side of the internal angleportion of the first movable punch and is pushed tightly against theforming surface. Hence, the end cover portion having a sharp edgeportion, which coincides with a shape of the internal angle portion ofthe first movable punch, can be formed easily.

Preferably, the second movable punch is guided by the back formingsurface of the fixed die, to move forward and backward while being incontact therewith; and the volume of the cavity is reduced by a forwardmoving motion of the second movable punch.

According to the invention, the second movable punch can be guidedforward and backward while using the forming surface of the fixed die asthe guiding surface. In other words, dedicated guiding members forguiding forward and backward the second movable punch can be omitted,and thus reduction in cost can be achieved by simplifying the moldstructure correspondingly.

Preferably, the molding manufacturing apparatus further includes: aheating unit which is provided to the fixed die and heats the backsurface of the end portion.

According to the invention, the end portion of the molding body can beheated from the back surface side in the state that the molding body isset in the fixed die. Also, the end portion of the molding body can besoftened by heating precisely the necessary area only. For this reason,the time and labor for heating the end portion of the molding bodypreviously at another place (by separate steps) can be eliminated, andalso the disadvantages caused by the unexpected deformation of the endportion that is softened by the heating do not occur.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be more readily described with reference tothe accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state that a molding according toan embodiment 1 of the present invention is fitted onto a top surface ofa roof panel of a vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along II-II line in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along III-III line in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the molding that is partiallybroken.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a normal portion to an end portion of amolding body.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the normal portion of the moldingbody, taken along VI-VI line in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of an end portion neighborhood of themolding body, taken along VII-VII line in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the end portion of the molding body,taken along a VIII-VIII line in FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing an overall configuration of themolding manufacturing system in a simplified fashion.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a state that the molding body isset to a fixed die.

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view showing a relationship between a nearinfrared heating device and the end portion of the molding body, takenalong XI-XI line in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment in which an outputof a near infrared lamp is controlled to form a wave shape with a lapseof time such that an irradiation amount of a near infrared ray emittedfrom the near infrared lamp of the near infrared heating device ischanged to increase or decrease with a lapse of time.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment in which a powersupply of the near infrared lamp is ON/OFF-controlled with a lapse oftime such that an irradiation amount of a near infrared ray emitted fromthe near infrared lamp of the near infrared heating device is changed toincrease or decrease with a lapse of time.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a state that the end portion ofthe molding body is subjected to a press working by closing a fixed diewith a movable punch.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a trimming cutting device for theend cover portion of the molding.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment 2 of the presentinvention wherein a movable punch driving mechanism is constructed by acam mechanism having a cam follower and a cam groove.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment 3 of the presentinvention wherein the molding body is set onto the fixed die in a statethat the movable punch is opened with respect to the fixed die.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing a state that the end portion ofthe molding body is subjected to the press working (bending) by closingthe fixed die with the movable punch.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment 4 of the presentinvention wherein the end portion of the molding body is subjected tothe press working (bending) by closing the fixed die with the movablepunch.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment 5 of the presentinvention wherein the end portion of the molding body is subjected tothe press working (bending) by closing the fixed die with the movablepunch.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing an overall configuration of themolding manufacturing system according to an embodiment 6 of theinvention in a simplified fashion.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory view showing a state that the molding body isset to a fixed die.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory view showing an initial state in which thefirst movable punch comes into contact with the end portion of themolding body.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory view showing an intermediate state that theend portion of the molding body is bent by a pushing force of the firstmovable punch.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory view showing a state that the end portion ofthe molding body is bent at a predetermined angle to form an end bendingportion.

FIG. 26 is explanatory view showing a state that the end bending portionof the molding body is compressed by a second movable punch to form anend cover portion with a predetermined shape.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment 7 of the presentinvention wherein a first movable punch driving mechanism is constructedby a cam mechanism having a cam follower and a cam groove.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of aconfiguration of the molding manufacturing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

An embodiment 1 of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 15 herein after.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state that a molding is fittedonto a top surface of a roof panel of a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a crosssectional view taken along a II-II line in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a crosssectional view taken along a III-III line in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is aperspective view showing the molding that is partially broken.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, a molding fitting groove 2 that isextended in the longitudinal direction to fit a molding (roof sidemolding, in this embodiment) 10 therein is provided to both sideportions of a roof panel 1 of a vehicle. This molding fitting groove 2is formed like a stepped groove that has a stepped surface 3 near itsupper portion. Then, the molding fitting groove 2 includes a lowergroove portion 4 having an almost dovetail-grove like cross sectionalshape as its lower portion, and an upper groove portion 5 having thestepped surface 3 as a bottom portion in the upper opening of the lowergroove portion 4 respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, the molding 10 that has integrally an end coverportion 11 at its end portion in the longitudinal direction ismanufactured by bending an end portion 17 of a molding body 15, which isthe longitudinally-extending extrusion-molded material shown in FIG. 5to FIG. 8, by means of the press working.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, the molding body 15 is formed ofhard (a Durometer hardness based on JIS-K7215 is almost HDA 80 to 100)thermoplastic material (e.g., thermoplastic synthetic resin,thermoplastic elastomer, or the like) by the extrusion molding to extendlongitudinally. The molding body 15 includes integrally a molding mainbody 20 to be fitted along the molding fitting groove 2, and a hard (aDurometer hardness based on JIS-K7215 is almost HDD 40 to 60) decorativelayer 22 provided along the longitudinal direction of the molding mainbody 20 on the surface side and formed of thermoplastic material whosehardness and melt temperature are higher than the molding main body 20.

Also, in this embodiment, the molding main body 20 includes integrallyan ornament body 21 and a supporting body 23 in its cross section. Then,the decorative layer 22 is provided along the longitudinal direction ofthe ornament body 21 on the surface side in a layered fashion.

This decorative layer 22 may be formed integrally by the co-extrusion atthe same time when the molding main body 20 is formed by the extrusionmolding. Also, the decorative layer 22 may be formed of the materialhaving the above characteristic previously like a tape, then thetape-like decorative layer 22 may be supplied to the extrusion moldingdie used to mold the molding main body 20, and then such decorativelayer 22 may be pasted onto a surface of the ornament body 21 at thesame time when the molding main body 20 is formed by the extrusionmolding. Thus, the decorative layer 22 may be formed integrally alongthe longitudinal direction of the molding main body 20 (ornament body21) on the surface side.

Also, the supporting body 23 of the molding main body 20 includesintegrally a leg portion 24 formed to extend downward from a backsurface of the ornament body 21, and projected portions 25, 26 projectedleftward and rightward from a lower end of the leg portion 24respectively. In addition, elastic lips 27, 28 made of resilient andsoft (a Durometer hardness based on JIS-K7215 is almost HDA 60 to 80)non-foaming thermoplastic material or foaming thermoplastic material,which is deformed elastically to be pushed against both groove wallsurfaces of the lower groove portion 4 of the molding fitting groove 2,are extended from top end portions of the projected portions 25, 26respectively.

Also, in this embodiment 1, a core material 30 made of a metal strip, ametal wire, or the like is embedded (inserted) near a root portion ofthe leg portion 24. This core material 30 is continuous in thelongitudinal direction of the molding main body 20 and has the rigiditylarger than the main body material to prevent the expansion andcontraction of the molding main body 20.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, other portions, i.e., a lower halfportion of the leg portion 24 and the projected portions 25, 26, exceptthe neighborhood of the root portion in which the core material 30 ofthe leg portion 24 is embedded are removed from the supporting body 23of the molding main body 20 by the cutting, or the like over the rangefrom an end portion neighborhood 16 to the end portion 17 of the moldingbody 15.

Also, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8, the end portion 17 of the moldingbody 15 has a predetermined length dimension enough to form the endcover portion 11. Also, a remaining portion, i.e., an upper half portionof the leg portion 24 is removed from the end portion 17 by the cutting,or the like to leave the ornament body 21 of the molding main body 20.

Next, a molding manufacturing system for manufacturing the molding 10 byapplying the press working (bending) to the end portion 17 of the abovemolding body 15 will be explained with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10herein after.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing an overall configuration of themolding manufacturing system in a simplified fashion. FIG. 10 is anexplanatory view showing a state that the molding body is set in thefixed die.

In FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, a fixed die (lower mold) 52 in which the moldingbody 15 is positioned, fixed, and set is arranged at a predeterminedposition of an upper surface of a fixed table 51 (a die holder 51).

A first positioning groove 52 a and a second positioning groove 52 c,which is shallower than the first positioning groove 52 a, are formed inparallel via a stepped portion 52 b on the fixed die 52 in thelongitudinal direction of the molding body 15. The supporting body 23 ofthe normal portion of the molding body 15 and the leg portion 24 of theend portion neighborhood 16 are fitted into this first positioninggroove 52 a from the upper side in parallel with the upper surface ofthe fixed die 52 to prevent a displacement of the molding body 15 in theaxial direction. In this case, the stepped portion 52 b is a contactportion used to decide a position of the molding body 15 in thelongitudinal direction. A plurality of positioning and fixing pins 53each having a pointed tip are provided on a bottom surface of the firstpositioning groove 52 a to project therefrom. These positioning andfixing pins 53 prevent the displacement of the molding body 15 in thelongitudinal direction to fix the molding body 15. Also, a formingsurface 520 is formed on one side surface of the fixed die 52 at angle θ(e.g., 90 degree) with the first positioning groove 52 a and the secondpositioning groove 52 c. This forming surface 520 acts as a formingsurface that is used to form the back surface side of the end portion 17of the molding body 15 when a movable punch 80 is closed onto the fixeddie 52.

As shown in FIG. 9, a movable plate 60 is arranged over the fixed table51 via plural guide posts 55 and plural guide bushings 56 in such amanner that such movable plate 60 can be moved forward and backward(e.g., moved vertically) along the direction of the guide posts 55 toprevent a movement in the direction that intersects with the guide posts55. This movable plate 60 is moved forward by a press ram 58 driven by ahydraulic cylinder, and is moved backward to a predetermined retreat endposition by a spring force of a returning spring (not shown). In otherwords, if an axis directed along the longitudinal direction of themolding body 15 is set as a reference line, the movable plate 60 isarranged such that such movable plate 60 can be moved forward andbackward in a predetermined direction (the perpendicular direction,e.g., the vertical direction) with respect to the reference line. InFIG. 9, a reference 57 is a returning spring of the guide post 55.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the movable punch (upper mold) 80, whichexecutes the mold closing and opening motion with respect to the fixedtable 51 to form the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 by the pressworking, is arranged on one surface (lower surface) of the movable plate60, which faces to the fixed table 51. This movable punch 80 includes asandwiching surface 80 a for cooperating with the fixed die 52 tosandwich the end portion neighborhood 16 of the molding body 15 betweenthem when the movable punch 80 is closed onto the fixed die 52, aforming surface 800 for intersecting with the sandwiching surface 80 aat an angle θ to form a curved surface on the surface side of the endportion 17, and a top end portion 801 positioned on the bottom side of atop end of the forming surface 800. Accordingly, a molding space(cavity) is formed by the forming surfaces 520, 800 between the fixeddie 52 and the movable punch 80. These forming surfaces 520, 800 bendthe end portion 17 of the molding body 15 at a predetermined bendingangle θ (almost right angle in this embodiment 1) when the movable punch80 is closed onto the fixed die 52.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the movable punch 80 is moved whileguided by a guiding mechanism, which is constructed by guide rails 75provided on one side surface of the movable plate 60, in the directionthat is perpendicular to the forward and backward moving directions ofthe movable plate 60, i.e., in the lateral direction that isperpendicular to the vertical direction.

Also, the movable punch 80 is moved forward and backward by a drivingmechanism, which uses a motor, a fluid pressure cylinder, or the like asa driving source, in the direction that intersects with the forward andbackward moving directions of the movable plate 60 at the time of theforward and backward motions of the movable plate 60 to execute the moldopening and closing motions with respect to the fixed die 52. In otherwords, the movable punch 80 is moved forward and backward in the obliquedirection to the fixed die 52, which is the synthesized direction of theforward and backward moving directions of the movable plate 60 and theperpendicular direction to this direction, to execute the mold openingand closing motions. The movable punch 80 can come up to the fixed die52 and go away from the fixed die 52 in any direction by controllingspeeds of its forward and backward moving directions and theperpendicular direction to this direction.

In the embodiment 1, the driving mechanism of the movable punch 80includes a motor (e.g., servo motor) 71 as a driving source, and a feedshaft 72 moved by converting a rotational motion of the motor 71 into alinear motion. Then, a top end portion of the feed shaft 72 is coupledto the movable punch 80.

Also, the motor 71 is operated and controlled by a control unit 90 insuch away the movable punch 80 is moved and controlled by desiredforward and backward moving amounts in the direction, which intersectsperpendicularly with the forward and backward moving directions of themovable plate 60, in response to a forward or backward moving amounts ofthe movable plate 60. In this case, it is preferable that, if a largemold closing force is required when the movable punch 80 is closed ontothe fixed die 52, a feeding mechanism using a ball screw should beemployed in place of the above mechanism as a mechanism to move themovable punch 80, for the movable punch 80 is never pushed back in theopposite direction to the moving direction at the time of closing themold.

Also, a moving gauge axis 85 for measuring forward and/backward movingamounts of the movable plate 60 is provided to one member of the fixedtable 51 and the movable plate 60, while a sensor 86 for sensing aposition of the moving gauge axis 85 is provided to the other member.Then, a sensed signal of the sensor 86 is supplied to the control unit90, and then the motor 71 is operated and controlled based on the sensedsignal according to a previously set program. That is, a moving locus ofthe movable punch 80 is decided by the program.

In this case, a switching valve (solenoid valve) 87 provided to ahydraulic route, which is connected to the hydraulic cylinder to drivethe press ram 58, is switched and controlled by the control unit 90 tolift up or bring down the press ram 58.

Also, refrigerant paths 82 through which the refrigerant is supplied tokeep the movable punch 80 at a constant temperature are provided to aninside of the movable punch 80 (see FIG. 10). Also, similarly therefrigerant paths are provided to an inside of the fixed die 52, buttheir illustration will be omitted herein.

A pushing means (stripper) for pushing a portion of the molding body 15except the end portion 17 to be bent at a predetermined position toprevent a displacement in the longitudinal direction is provided to apredetermined position of the movable plate 60.

As shown in FIG. 10, this pushing means is passed through thepredetermined position of the movable plate 60 to move forward andbackward. This pushing means is constructed to include an axial pushingbody 61 having a pushing plate 61 a at its one end (lower end) and astopper plate 61 b at its other end (upper end), and a pushing spring 62made of a compression coil spring provided around the pushing body 61between the pushing plate and the movable plate 60 to elastically pushthe pushing body 61.

Also, as shown in FIG. 10, a stopper means for stopping the movableplate 60 at a forward end position (bottom dead center) is providedbetween the fixed table 51 and the movable plate 60.

In this embodiment 1, the stopper means includes a fixed stopper 66fixed on the fixed table 51 side and an adjusting stopper 67 screweddetachably to the movable plate 60 side and fixed by a fastening nut 69so that the adjusting stopper 67 can be disposed at a desired position.Then, by allowing the adjusting stopper 67 to be disposed at anarbitrary position, the forward end position (bottom dead center) of themovable plate 60 is adjusted freely.

A heating device for heating and softening the end portion 17 of themolding body 15 that is set in the fixed die 52 is provided on the fixedtable 51 next to one side of the fixed die 52. An infrared heatingdevice is used as the heating device.

Also, the embodiment 1, a near infrared heating device 101 is used asthe infrared heating device.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the near infrared heating device 101 hasa near infrared lamp (e.g., halogen lamp) 102, and a reflecting mirror103 for converging the light emitted from the near infrared lamp 102 andreflecting the light to form a focal point. As a result, the lightemitted from the near infrared lamp 102 can be irradiated only onto anarea that is needed to heat the molding body 15, so that the heating ofother portions can be prevented.

Also, the embodiment 1, a distance between the position of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 that is set in the fixed die 52 andthe near infrared lamp 102 in the near infrared heating device 101 isset such that the near infrared ray can be irradiated almost uniformlyonly to the to-be-heated area of the ornament body 21 of the moldingmain body 20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 on the backsurface side from the position that is far rather than a focal length ofthe reflecting mirror 103. Therefore, the energy that is required of theheating can be employed effectively, and the light is not irradiated tothe normal portion of the molding body 15 and the movable punch 80 thatare not needed to heat, and thus the undesirable temperature rise can beprevented.

Also, in the embodiment 1, when the near infrared ray is irradiated ontothe back surface side of the ornament body 21 of the molding main body20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15, the back surface of theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20 is heated by the heatradiation while interrupting the irradiation of the near infrared raywith a lapse of time and changing an irradiation amount to increase ordecrease alternately with a lapse of time, and the decorative layer 22is heated almost uniformly by the thermal conduction.

For example, an irradiation amount of the near infrared ray can bechanged to increase or decrease alternately with a lapse of time bycontrolling an output of the near infrared lamp 102 to form a wave shapewith a lapse of time, as shown in FIG. 12, or by ON/OFF-controlling apower supply of the near infrared lamp 102 with a lapse of time, asshown in FIG. 13.

Next, a molding manufacturing method as well as an operation of theabove molding manufacturing system will be explained with reference toFIG. 10 to FIG. 15 herein after.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the long molding body 15 is prepared.

Then, in the state that, as shown in FIG. 10, the movable plate 60 isarranged at the retreat position and the movable punch 80 is opened, thesupporting body 23 of the normal portion of the molding body 15 and anupper half portion of the leg portion 24 of the end portion neighborhood16 are fitted into the first positioning groove 52 a and the secondpositioning groove 52 c of the fixed die 52 respectively, while bringinga stepped portion 25 a located at the boundary portion between thenormal portion of the molding body 15 and the end portion neighborhood16 into contact with the stepped portion 52 b between the firstpositioning groove 52 a and the second positioning groove 52 c of thefixed die 52 to position the molding body 15 in the longitudinaldirection. At this time, the molding body is temporarily fixed and setby a plurality of positioning and fixing pins 53 that are provided onthe bottom surface of the first positioning groove 52 a.

As described above, when the molding body 15 is set, the end portion 17of the molding body 15 is set to protrude from one side of the fixed die52, whereas an end surface of the leg portion 24 acting as a steppedportion 24 a at the boundary portion between the end portion 17 and theend portion neighborhood 16 is projected slightly from one side of thefixed die 52. Then, the stepped portion 24 a, i.e., the end surface ofthe leg portion 24 is welded to the back surface of the end portion 17.

Then, the near infrared lamp 102 of the near infrared heating device 101is turned on (ON). Then, the near infrared ray emitted from the nearinfrared lamp 102 is irradiated onto the back surface side of theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20 in the end portion 17 ofthe molding body 15 (see arrows indicated in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11). Then,it is preferable that the near infrared ray should be irradiated to havean irradiation width that almost coincides with a width of the endportion 17 or that is wider than the width of the end portion 17.

As a result, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is heated andsoftened to keep the condition that the decorative layer 22 has asoftened level lower than the ornament body 21 of the molding main body20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15.

Also, it is desired that, when the near infrared ray is irradiated, anirradiation amount of the near infrared ray should be changed toincrease and decrease alternately with a lapse of time by controllingthe output of the near infrared lamp 102 to form a wave shape with alapse of time, as shown in FIG. 12, or ON/OFF-controlling the powersupply of the near infrared lamp 102 with a lapse of time, as shown inFIG. 13.

In this case, the ornament body 21 of the molding main body 20 issoftened almost uniformly by the heat radiation and the thermalconduction from its back surface to the decorative layer 22 on thesurface side in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15. At this time,because of the above characteristics of the material, the decorativelayer 22 is kept in the softened level lower than the ornament body 21even when such decorative layer 22 is heated up to the same temperatureas the ornament body 21.

Then, the movable plate 60 is moved forward to a forward (lower, in thiscase) end position by the press ram 58 during when the end portion 17 ofthe molding body 15 is still kept in the softened state after theirradiation of the near infrared ray is stopped.

First, the movable plate 60 is moved forward to a predeterminedposition, and also the pushing plate 61 a of the pushing body 61 comesat first into contact with the decorative layer 22 of the molding body15. The pushing spring 62 is compressed elastically by the subsequentforward moving motion of the movable plate 60, and then the molding body15 is pushed against the fixed die 52 by a spring force of the pushingspring 62 via the pushing body 61. As a result, the positioning andfixing pins 53 encroach upon the bottom surface of the supporting body23 of the molding body 15, so that the molding body 15 can be firmlyfixed to the fixed die 52 not to displace in the longitudinal direction.At this point of time, the movable punch 80 is moved to the position atwhich the underlying top end portion 801 is overlapped with theoverlying end portion 17 to hold a clearance between them.

Then, the movable plate 60 is moved further forward and also the motor71 is operated. Then, the movable punch 80 is moved forward by the feedshaft 72 in the direction that is perpendicular to the forward movingdirection of the movable plate 60, i.e., the lateral direction that isperpendicular to the vertical direction in the embodiment 1.

As a result, the movable punch 80 is moved forward in the obliquedirection, which is the synthesized direction of the forward movingdirection of the movable plate 60 and the direction perpendicular tosuch direction, to execute the mold closing motion with respect to thefixed die 52.

As shown in FIG. 14, the movable plate 60 is moved toward the forwardend position at which the moving-late side stopper 67 comes into contactwith the fixed stopper 66, and also the movable punch 80 is movedforward to the forward end position in the oblique direction, i.e., themold closing position. At that time, the bottom-side top end portion 801of the movable punch 80 is brought into contact with the top end surfaceof the end portion 17 at a position that is set apart from a bendingcenter position P of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 to thetop end side by a predetermined distance, and thus a pushing force ofthe movable punch 80 is applied to the end portion 17. Thus, such endportion 17 is bent downward. Subsequently, the movable punch 80 is movedforward to the mold closing position. Thus, the end portion 17 of themolding body 15 is bent up to a predetermined bending angle θ (almostright angle) by the press working (bending) and also is slightlycompressed between the forming surface 520 of the fixed die 52 and theforming surface 800 of the movable punch 80. Then, the end cover portion11 having the predetermined shape is formed by the end portion 17 thatis bent by an almost right angle, whereby the molding 10 having the endcover portion 11 is manufactured. In this case, since the back surfaceof the end portion 17 and the stepped portion 24 a (end surface of theleg portion 24) at the boundary portion between the end portion 17 andthe end portion neighborhood 16 are welded mutually, the event that theend cover portion 11 tends to return to its original shape can befurther prevented. Also, a moving locus of the movable punch 80 isdecided previously by the program such that the movable punch 80 ismoved on a line with an angle ½·θ from the position immediately beforethe mold closing position to the mold closing position.

As described above, after the movable punch 80 is closed and the formedend cover portion 11 is cooled and solidified, the movable plate 60 andthe movable punch 80 are moved backward to their original retreat endpositions.

Then, the molding 10 having the end cover portion 11 is released fromthe fixed die 52.

Also, if there is a necessity that the trimming must be applied to theend cover portion 11 of the molding 10 manufactured as above, suchtrimming is carried out by another step. In other words, as shown inFIG. 15, the molding 10 is set in a trimming fixed die 120 and then amoving cutting tool 121 for trimming is moved forward to the trimmingfixed die 120. Thus, an extra portion 19 of the end cover portion 11 ofthe molding 10 is cut and removed by a cutting edge 122 of the movingcutting tool 121, and thus the trimming is carried out.

As described above, according to the molding manufacturing method in theembodiment 1, since the near infrared ray is irradiated onto the backsurface side of the molding main body 20 (ornament body 21) thatcorresponds to the end portion 17 of the molding body 15, the endportion 17 can be heated and softened satisfactorily while keeping thetemperature of the decorative layer 22 side lower than the temperatureof the back surface side and also maintaining the state that a softenedlevel of the decorative layer 22 on the surface of the ornament body 21is still lower than the molding main body 20 (ornament body 21). Inaddition, it can be prevented that the normal portions except the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 are heated and softened and thermallydeformed unexpectedly. Therefore, the end portion 17 and the decorativelayer 22 of the end portion neighborhood 16 are not excessively heated,damages caused by the movable punch can be prevented, and the pleasantdecorative layer 22 can be still maintained.

Also, because the near infrared heating is employed, the heating of theend portion 17 of the molding body 15 can be easily controlled by theelectrical control. In addition, the partial areas that need the heatingcan be heated precisely in proper quantities.

As a result, the end cover portion 11 having the pleasing appearance canbe formed by bending the end portion 17 of the molding body 15satisfactorily by virtue of the press working using the fixed die 52 andthe movable punch 80. In addition, occurrence of uneven distortion, etc.on the surface of the decorative layer 22 near the end portion 17 andthe end portion neighborhood 16, i.e., the end cover portion 11 can beprevented.

Also, according to the molding manufacturing method of the embodiment 1,the near infrared ray is irradiated onto the back surface side of themolding main body 20 (ornament body 21) in the end portion 17 of themolding body 15 while changing an irradiation amount of the nearinfrared ray to increase and decrease alternately with a lapse of time.Therefore, the back surface side of the end portion 17 of the moldingbody 15 is heated by the heat radiation and the decorative layer 22 sideon the surface side is heated by the thermal conduction from the backsurface side. At this time, since the back surface side is never heatedexcessively, such disadvantages can be prevented that the back surfaceof the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is heated excessively andmelt away, a burn occurs, etc.

Accordingly, the press working (bending) can be applied to the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 more satisfactorily, and also the endcover portion 11 can be shaped satisfactorily into the desired shape.

Further, the molding main body 20 (ornament body 21) in the end portion17 of the molding body 15 can be heated and softened quickly by apenetrating energy, which is one characteristic of the near infraredray, from the back surface to the inner side. As a result, improvementin the productivity of the molding 10 can be achieved by shortening aheating and softening time of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15.

Also, the near infrared heating device 101 includes the near infraredlamp 102, and the reflecting mirror 103 for reflecting the light emittedfrom the near infrared lamp 102 to form a focal point in the forwardarea. A distance between the position of the end portion 17 of themolding body 15, which is set in the fixed die 52, and the near infraredlamp 102 of the near infrared heating device 101 is set such that thenear infrared ray is irradiated almost uniformly onto the back surfaceside area of the molding main body 20 (ornament body 21) in the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 at a position that is remote ratherthan a focal length of the reflecting mirror 103.

For this reason, the molding main body 20 (ornament body 21) can beheated and softened substantially uniformly over the almost full lengthof the end portion 17 of the molding body 15. Therefore, thedisadvantage caused by a nonuniformity of the softened level, e.g., thebending failure of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 can beprevented. Also, the energy required of the heating can be usedeffectively.

Embodiment 2

Next, an embodiment 2 of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIG. 16 herein after.

As shown in FIG. 16, the driving mechanism of the movable punch 80,which is moved while guided by the guiding mechanism using the guidingrails 75 provided to one side surface of the movable plate 60 in thedirection that is perpendicular to the forward and backward movingdirections of the movable plate 60 (e.g., lateral directionperpendicular to the vertical direction), is exchanged for a cammechanism that is different from the embodiment 1.

More particularly, in an embodiment 2 of the present invention, arod-like cam follower 77 is fixed to the side surface of the movablepunch 80 in the oblique state whose angle is set to an angle ½·θ, whereθ is a bending angle. In contrast, a plurality of rollers 78 a, 78 b arefitted to the side surface of the fixed die 52 to correspond to the camfollower 77. A cam groove 78 for guiding the cam follower 77 betweenthese plural rollers 78 a, 78 b is formed. Then, the cam mechanismconsists of the cam follower 77 and the cam groove 78.

Since other configurations of the embodiment 2 are constructed similarlyto the embodiment 1, their explanation will be omitted herein byaffixing the same reference symbols to the same constituent portions.

Therefore, in the embodiment 2, the end portion 17 of the molding body15 is heated and softened by the near infrared heating device 101 tomaintain still the condition that the decorative layer 22 of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 has the softened level lower than theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20.

Then, when the movable plate 60 is moved forward to the forward endposition by the press ram 58, the movable punch 80 is also moved forwardby a cam action executed by the cam follower 77 and the cam groove 78 inthe oblique direction, which is the synthesized direction of the forwardmoving direction of the movable plate 60 and the direction perpendicularto such direction, to carry out the mold closing motion with respect tothe fixed die 52.

Accordingly, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is bent by thepress working (bending) up to a predetermined bending angle θ (almostright angle). Then, the molding 10 having the end cover portion 11,which consists of the end portion 17 that was bent by an almost rightangle, is manufactured.

As described above, since the driving mechanism of the movable punch 80is constructed by the cam mechanism consisting of the cam follower 77and the cam groove 78, it is possible to cause the movable punch 80 toexecute the precise repeating operation and also it is possible tosimplify the structure of the molding manufacturing system. In thiscase, it is preferable that the setting angle of the cam follower 77should be set to ½·θ (e.g., 45 degree). But such setting angle of thecam follower 77 may be adjusted and set freely by changing appropriatelya fitting position (fitting angle) of the cam follower 77 with respectto the movable punch 80.

Also, the cam follower 77 and the cam groove 78 may be provided in theopposite manner to the above embodiment 2, i.e., the cam follower 77 maybe provided to the fixed die 52 and the cam groove 78 may be provided tothe movable punch 80.

In this case, it is similar to the embodiment 1 that the moving locus ofthe movable punch 80 is decided such that the movable punch 80 is movedalong the line with an angle ½·θ from the position immediately beforethe mold closing position to the mold closing position.

Embodiment 3

Next, an embodiment 3 of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 herein after.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory view showing a state that the molding body 15is set on the fixed die in the condition that the movable punch, whichis used to form the back surface side of the molding body, is openedfrom the fixed die, which is used to form the surface side of themolding body. FIG. 18 is an explanatory view showing a state that theend portion of the molding body is subjected to the press working(bending) by closing the movable punch onto the fixed die.

In FIG. 17, a convex portion 153 is formed on one side on a fixed die152 that is arranged on the fixed table 51, and a concavely-curvedforming surface 154 corresponding to the bending shape of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 is formed on a side surface of theconvex portion 153. Then, the molding body 15 is positioned and set onthe fixed die 152 in such a manner that the back surface side of themolding body 15 is directed to a movable punch 180 (upwardly) and thatthe surface of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is put on acorner portion of the convex portion 153 to set its longitudinaldirection obliquely.

The movable punch (upper mold) 180 is arranged on one side surface(lower surface) of the movable plate 60, which opposes to the fixedtable 51. This movable punch 180 executes the mold closing and openingmotions with respect to the fixed die 15, and applies the press working(bending) to push the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 into theconcavely-curved forming surface 154 of the fixed die 152.

This movable punch 180 is moved and guided by the guiding mechanismconsisting of the guiding rails 75, which are provided to one sidesurface of the movable plate 60, in the direction that is perpendicularto the forward and backward moving directions of the movable plate 60,e.g., the lateral direction that is perpendicular to the verticaldirection.

Also, when the movable plate 60 is moved forward and backward, themovable punch 180 is also moved forward and backward by the drivingmechanism using the motor, the fluid pressure cylinder, or the like asthe driving source, like the embodiment 1, or the driving mechanismconsisting of the cam mechanism using the cam follower and the camgroove, like the embodiment 2, in the direction, which is perpendicularto the forward and backward moving directions of the movable plate 60,to carry out the mold closing and opening motions with respect to thefixed die 152. But their illustration is omitted herein. In other words,the movable punch 180 is moved forward to or backward from the fixed die152 in the oblique direction, which is the synthesized direction of theforward and backward moving directions of the movable plate 60 and thedirection perpendicular to such directions, to carry out the moldclosing and opening motions.

Also, as shown in FIG. 17, the near infrared heating device 101 forheating and softening the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 byirradiating the near infrared ray onto it from its back surface side isfitted to a movable bracket 110 between the fixed table 51 and themovable plate 60 such that such heating device 101 can be moved to aheating position, at which the heating device 101 heats the end portion17 of the molding body 15, and a retreat position, at which the heatingdevice 101 is retreated from an area between the fixed table 51 and themovable plate 60.

Also, like the embodiment 1, the near infrared heating device 101 of theembodiment 3 includes the near infrared lamp (e.g., halogen lamp) 102and the reflecting mirror 103 for reflecting the light emitted from thenear infrared lamp 102 to form the focal point. Then, as shown in FIG.17, a distance between the position of the end portion 17 of the moldingbody 15, which is set in the fixed die 152, and the near infrared lamp102 in the near infrared heating device 101 is set such that, when thenear infrared heating device 101 is brought into the heating position,the near infrared ray can be irradiated almost uniformly only onto theback surface side area of the ornament body 21 of the molding main body20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 from the position thatis separated farther than the focal length of the reflecting mirror 103.In this case, the pushing body 61 for pushing the normal portion of themolding body 15 by a spring force of the pushing spring when the pressworking is applied to the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 isarranged in a predetermined position of the movable plate 60.

In the embodiment 3 constructed as above, as shown in FIG. 7, the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 is heated and softened by the nearinfrared heating device 101, which is arranged at the heating position,while maintaining the condition that the decorative layer 22 of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 has the softened level lower than theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20.

Then, as shown in FIG. 18, when the movable plate 60 is moved forward tothe forward end position, the movable punch 180 is also moved forward bythe driving mechanism in the oblique direction, which is the synthesizeddirection of the forward moving direction of the movable plate 60 andthe direction perpendicular to such direction, to carry out the moldclosing motion with respect to the fixed die 152.

Accordingly, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is pushed intothe concavely-curved forming surface of the fixed die 52 and issubjected to the press working (bending). Then, the end cover portion 11having a predetermined shape is formed of the end portion 17 that isconcavely bent. Thus, the molding 10 having such end cover portion 11 ismanufactured.

Embodiment 4

Next, an embodiment 4 of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIG. 19 hereunder.

In this embodiment 4, out of a fixed die 252 and a movable punch 280, aforming surface 2520 is formed on one side surface of the fixed die 252at a predetermined obtuse angle θ1 of 90 degree or more with the firstpositioning groove 52 a and the second positioning groove 52 c. Thisforming surface 2520 acts as a forming surface to form the back surfaceside of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 when the movable punch280 is closed onto the fixed die 252.

Also, the movable punch 280 includes a sandwiching surface 280 a forsandwiching the end portion neighborhood 16 of the molding body 15 tocooperate with the fixed die 252 when the movable punch 280 is closedonto the fixed die 252, a forming surface 2800 for intersect with thesandwiching surface 280 a at an obtuse angle θ1 to form a bent surfaceof the end portion 17 on the surface side, and a top end portion 2801provided to a bottom-side top end of the forming surface 2800.Therefore, a molding space (cavity) is formed by the forming surfaces2520, 2800, which bend the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 by theobtuse angle θ1 when the movable punch 280 is closed onto the fixed die252, between the fixed die 252 and the movable punch 280.

Since other structures of this embodiment 4 are constructed similarly tothe above embodiment 1 or 2, their explanation will be omitted herein byaffixing the same reference symbols to the same constituent portions.

As a result, according to the molding manufacturing system of theembodiment 4, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 can bepress-worked by mutual forming surfaces 2520, 2800 of the fixed die 252and the movable punch 280 to have the predetermined obtuse angle θ1, andalso the molding 10 with the end cover portion 11 having thepredetermined obtuse angle θ1 can be easily manufactured.

Embodiment 5

Next, an embodiment 5 of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIG. 20 hereunder.

In this embodiment 5, out of a fixed die 352 and a movable punch 380, aforming surface 3520 is formed on one side surface of the fixed die 352at a predetermined obtuse angle θ2 of 90 degree or less with the firstpositioning groove 52 a and the second positioning groove 52 c. Thisforming surface 3520 acts as a forming surface to form the back surfaceside of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 when the movable punch380 is closed onto the fixed die 352.

Also, the movable punch 380 includes a sandwiching surface 380 a forsandwiching the end portion neighborhood 16 of the molding body 15 tocooperate with the fixed die 352 when the movable punch 380 is closedonto the fixed die 352, a forming surface 3800 for intersect with thesandwiching surface 380 a at an obtuse angle θ2 to form a bent surfaceof the end portion 17 on the surface side, and a top end portion 3801provided to a bottom-side top end of the forming surface 3800.Therefore, a molding space (cavity) is formed by the forming surfaces3520, 3800, which bend the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 by theobtuse angle θ2 when the movable punch 380 is closed onto the fixed die352, between the fixed die 352 and the movable punch 380.

Since other structures of this embodiment 5 are constructed similarly tothe above embodiment 1 or 2, their explanation will be omitted herein byaffixing the same reference symbols to the same constituent portions.

As a result, according to the molding manufacturing system of theembodiment 5, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 can bepress-worked by mutual forming surfaces 3520, 3800 of the fixed die 352and the movable punch 380 to have the predetermined obtuse angle θ2, andalso the molding 10 with the end cover portion 11 having thepredetermined obtuse angle θ2 can be easily manufactured.

Embodiment 6

Hereinbelow, an embodiment 6 of the invention will be explained withreference to drawings. Since structural configurations of the embodiment6 with regard to a molding are broadly the same as those of theembodiment 1, here, configurations different from Embodiment 1 willprimarily be explained.

In the embodiment 6, a length L1 of the linear end portion 17 of thelongitudinally-extending molding body 15 is set longer than a length L2of the end cover portion 11 of the finally-formed molding 10 by apredetermined length and is set shorter than a length L3 of a formingsurface 1800′ of the first movable punch 180′ described later (see FIG.4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 23).

A molding manufacturing system (also referred to as a molding moldequipment) according to Embodiment 6 will be explained below referringto FIG. 21 and FIG. 22.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing an overall configuration of themolding manufacturing system in a simplified fashion. FIG. 22 is anexplanatory view showing a state that the molding body is set in thefixed die.

In this embodiment 6, the molding manufacturing system is constructed toinclude a fixed die 152′, a first movable punch 180′, a second movablepunch 191, and a near infrared heating device 1101 as the heatingdevice. In other words, as shown in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, a fixed die(lower mold) 152′ in which the molding body 15 is positioned, fixed, andset is arranged at a predetermined position of an upper surface of afixed table 151.

A first positioning groove 152 a′ and a second positioning groove 152c′, which is shallower than the first positioning groove 152 a′, areformed in parallel via a stepped portion 152 b′ on the fixed die 152′ inthe longitudinal direction of the molding body 15. The supporting body23 of the normal portion of the molding body 15 and the leg portion 24of the end portion neighborhood 16 are fitted into this firstpositioning groove 152 a′ from the upper side in parallel with the uppersurface of the fixed die 152′ to prevent a displacement of the moldingbody 15 in the axial direction. In this case, the stepped portion 152 b′is a contact portion used to decide a position of the molding body 15 inthe longitudinal direction. A plurality of positioning and fixing pins153′ each having a pointed tip are provided on a bottom surface of thefirst positioning groove 152 a′ to project therefrom. These positioningand fixing pins 153′ prevent the displacement of the molding body 15 inthe longitudinal direction to fix the molding body 15. Also, a formingsurface 1520′ is formed on one side surface of the fixed die 152′ atangle θ (e.g., 90 degree) with the first positioning groove 152 a′ andthe second positioning groove 152 c′. This forming surface 1520′ acts asa forming surface that is used to form the back surface side of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 when a movable punch 180′ is closedonto the fixed die 152′.

As shown in FIG. 21, a movable plate 160 is arranged over the fixedtable 151 via plural guide posts 155 and plural guide bushings 156 insuch a manner that such movable plate 160 can be moved forward andbackward (e.g., moved vertically) along the direction of the guide posts155 to prevent a movement in the direction that intersects with theguide posts 155. This movable plate 160 is moved forward by a press ram158 driven by a hydraulic cylinder, and is moved backward to apredetermined retreat end position by a spring force of a returningspring (not shown). In other words, if an axis directed along thelongitudinal direction of the molding body 15 is set as a referenceline, the movable plate 160 is arranged such that such movable plate 160can be moved forward and backward in a predetermined direction (theperpendicular direction, e.g., the vertical direction) with respect tothe reference line. In FIG. 21, a reference 157 is a returning spring ofthe guide post 155.

As shown in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, the first movable punch (upper mold)180′, which executes the mold closing and opening motions with respectto the fixed table 151 to apply the press working to the end portion 17of the molding body 15 to thereby form the end bending portion 19, isarranged on one surface (lower surface) of the movable plate 160, whichfaces to the fixed table 151.

In this first movable punch 180′, a forming surface 1800′ for formingthe surface side of the end cover portion 11 of the molding 10 as thefinal product and a sandwiching surface 180 a′ for constituting asurface that is in almost parallel with the surface of the molding body15 and for cooperating with the fixed die 152′ to sandwich the endportion neighborhood 16 of the molding body 15 between them when thefirst movable punch 180′ is closed onto the fixed die 152′ are coupledvia an internal angle portion 1802′, which is formed with a radius ofcurvature that is smaller than a radius of curvature of the linear endbending portion 19 of the molding body 15, to have a predetermined angle(angle of 90 degree in this embodiment).

Accordingly, a cavity l110 is formed between both forming surfaces1520′, 1800′ of the fixed die 152′ and the first movable punch 180′.These forming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ form the end bending portion 19 bybending the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 at a predeterminedbending angle θ (almost right angle in this embodiment 1) when the firstmovable punch 180′ is closed onto the fixed die 152′.

Also, the first movable punch 180′ has a pushing top end portion 1801′that comes into contact with the top-end side portion of the end portion17 of the molding body 15, which is set in the fixed die 152′, when thefirst movable punch 180′ is closed onto the fixed die 152′ and bendssuch top-end side portion toward the back surface side.

As shown in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, the first movable punch 180′ is movedand guided by a guiding mechanism, which is constructed by guide rails175 provided on one side surface of the movable plate 160, in thedirection that is perpendicular to the forward and backward movingdirections of the movable plate 160, i.e., in the lateral direction thatis perpendicular to the vertical direction.

Also, the first movable punch 180′ is moved forward and backward by adriving mechanism, which uses a motor, a fluid pressure cylinder, or thelike as a driving source, in the direction that intersects with theforward and backward moving directions of the movable plate 160 at thetime of the forward and backward motions of the movable plate 160 toexecute the mold opening and closing motions with respect to the fixeddie 152′. In other words, the first movable punch 180′ is moved forwardand backward in the oblique direction to the fixed die 152′, which isthe synthesized direction of the forward and backward moving directionsof the movable plate 160 and the perpendicular direction to thisdirection, to execute the mold opening and closing motions. The firstmovable punch 180′ can come up to the fixed die 152′ and go away fromthe fixed die 152′ in any direction by controlling speed of its forwardand backward moving directions and the perpendicular direction to thesedirections.

In the embodiment 6, the driving mechanism of the first movable punch180′ includes an electric motor (e.g., servo motor) 171 as a drivingsource, and a feed shaft 172 moved by converting a rotational motion ofthe motor 171 into a linear motion. Then, a top end portion of the feedshaft 172 is coupled to the first movable punch 180′.

Also, the motor 171 is operated and controlled by a control unit 190 insuch a way the first movable punch 180′ is moved and controlled by adesired forward and backward moving amount in the direction, whichintersects perpendicularly with the forward and backward movingdirections of the movable plate 160, in response to a forward andbackward moving amount of the movable plate 160. In this case, it ispreferable that, if a large mold closing force is required when thefirst movable punch 180′ is closed onto the fixed die 152 a′ feedingmechanism using a ball screw should be employed in place of the abovemechanism as a mechanism to move the first movable punch 180′, for thefirst movable punch 180′ is never pushed back in the opposite directionto the moving direction at the time of closing the mold.

As shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, the second movable punch 191 isprovided at a predetermined position on the fixed table 151 to moveforward and backward. This second movable punch 191 can increase anddecrease a volume of the cavity 1110 that is formed between theseforming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ of both molds 152′, 180′ when the firstmovable punch 180′ is closed onto the fixed die 152′.

In the embodiment 6, the second movable punch 191 is formed as a flatplate that has the almost same plate thickness dimension as an intervaldimension between these forming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ of both molds152′, 180′ and has the almost same lateral width dimension as a lateralwidth dimension of the cavity 1110 when the first movable punch 180′ isclosed onto the fixed die 152′. Then, one side surface of the secondmovable punch 191 contacts the forming surface 1520′ of the fixed die152′ and is moved forward and backward in the longitudinal direction ofthe end bending portion 19 while using the forming surface 1520′ as aguiding surface and using the fluid pressure cylinder (the hydrauliccylinder, the air cylinder, or the like) 194 as the driving source. Thatis, a lower end portion of the second movable punch 191 is coupled to atop end of a cylinder rod 195 of the fluid pressure cylinder 194 and ismoved forward and backward.

Also, in this embodiment 6, as shown in FIG. 25, when the first movablepunch 180′ is closed onto the fixed die 152′, the top end (lower end) ofthe end bending portion 19 still remains in the cavity 1110 and thesecond movable punch 191 is provided to move forward into or backwardfrom a remaining cavity portion 1111 that is opposed to the top end sideof the end bending portion 19. Then, a pushing surface 192 at the topend of the second movable punch 191 pushes up the top end of the endbending portion 19 in response to the forward moving motion of thesecond movable punch 191 to apply a pushing force thereto, whereby thecompressive force is applied to the material constituting the endbending portion 19.

Also, as shown in FIG. 21, a moving gauge axis 185 for measuring aforward and backward moving amount of the movable plate 160 is providedto one member of the fixed table 151 and the movable plate 160, while asensor 186 for sensing a position of the moving gauge axis 185 isprovided to the other member. Then, a sensed signal of the sensor 186 issupplied to the control unit 190, and then the motor 171 is operated andcontrolled based on the sensed signal according to a previously setprogram. That is, a moving locus of the first movable punch 18′ isdecided by the program.

In this case, a switching valve (solenoid valve) 187 provided to ahydraulic route, which is connected to the hydraulic cylinder to drivethe press ram 158, is switched and controlled by the control unit 190 tolift up or bring down the press ram 158.

Also, refrigerant paths 182′ through which the refrigerant is suppliedto keep the first movable punch 180′ at a constant temperature areprovided to an inside of the movable punch 180′ (see FIG. 22). Also,similarly the refrigerant paths are provided to an inside of the fixeddie 152′, but their illustration will be omitted herein.

A pushing means (stripper) for pushing a portion of the molding body 15except the bent end portion 17 to be bent at a predetermined position toprevent a displacement in the longitudinal direction is provided to apredetermined position of the movable plate 160.

As shown in FIG. 22, this pushing means is passed through thepredetermined position of the movable plate 160 to move forward andbackward. This pushing means is constructed to include an axial pushingbody 161 having a pushing plate 161 a at its one end (lower end) and astopper plate 161 b at its other end (upper end), and a pushing spring162 made of a compression coil spring provided around the pushing body161 between the pushing plate and the movable plate 160 to elasticallypush the pushing body 161.

Also, as shown in FIG. 22, a stopper means for stopping the movableplate 160 at a forward end position (bottom dead center) is providedbetween the fixed table 151 and the movable plate 160.

In this embodiment 6, the stopper means includes a fixed stopper 166fixed on the fixed table 151 side and an adjusting stopper 167 screweddetachably to the movable plate 160 side and fixed by a fastening nut169 so that the adjusting stopper 167 can move to a desired position.Then, by allowing the adjusting stopper 167 to be disposed at anarbitrary position, the forward end position (bottom dead center) of themovable plate 160 is adjusted freely.

A heating device for heating and softening the end portion 17 of themolding body 15 that is set in the fixed die 152′ is provided on thefixed table 151 next to one side of the fixed die 152′. An infraredheating device is used as the heating device.

Also, the embodiment 6, a near infrared heating device 1101 is used asthe infrared heating device.

As shown in FIG. 21 and FIG. 22, the near infrared heating device 1101has a near infrared lamp (e.g., halogen lamp) 1102, and a reflectingmirror 1103 for converging the light emitted from the near infrared lamp1102 and reflecting the light to form a focal point. As a result, thelight emitted from the near infrared lamp 1102 can be irradiated onlyonto an area that is needed to heat the molding body 15, so that theheating of other portions can be prevented.

Also, the embodiment 6, a distance between the position of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 that is set in the fixed die 152′ andthe near infrared lamp 1102 in the near infrared heating device 1101 isset such that the near infrared ray can be irradiated almost uniformlyonly to the to-be-heated area of the ornament body 21 of the moldingmain body 20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 on the backsurface side from the position that is far rather than a focal length ofthe reflecting mirror 1103. Therefore, the energy that is required ofthe heating can be employed effectively, and the light is not irradiatedto the normal portion of the molding body 15 and the movable punch 180′that are not needed to heat, and thus the undesirable temperature risecan be prevented.

Also, it is preferable that the end portion 17 of the molding body 15should be bent in a state that a temperature of the top end side is setlower than a temperature of a neighborhood of the bending center portion(in FIG. 22, a neighborhood of the bending center position P) and/or ahardness of the top end side is set higher than a hardness of theneighborhood of the bending center portion. Therefore, for example, itis desired that the end portion 17 should be heated and softened whilemaintaining a state that the temperature of the neighborhood of the topend portion of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is lower thanthe temperature of the neighborhood of the bending center position P.

Also, in the embodiment 6, when the near infrared ray is irradiated ontothe back surface side of the ornament body 21 of the molding main body20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15, the back surface of theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20 is heated by the heatradiation while interrupting the irradiation of the near infrared raywith a lapse of time and changing an irradiation amount to increase anddecrease alternately with a lapse of time, and the decorative layer 22is heated almost uniformly by the thermal conduction.

For example, an irradiation amount of the near infrared ray can bechanged to increase and decrease alternately with a lapse of time bycontrolling an output of the near infrared lamp 1102 to form a waveshape with a lapse of time, as shown in FIG. 12, or byON/OFF-controlling a power supply of the near infrared lamp 1102 with alapse of time, as shown in FIG. 13.

Next, a molding manufacturing method as well as an operation of theabove molding manufacturing system will be explained as below withreference to FIG. 22 to FIG. 26.

First, the longitudinally-extending molding body 15 having the linearend portion 17, a length L1 of which is set longer than a length L2 ofthe end cover portion 11 of the finally-formed molding 10 by apredetermined length and is set shorter than a length L3 of the formingsurface 1800′ of the first movable punch 1801, is prepared (see FIGS. 4and 23).

Then, in the state that, as shown in FIG. 22, the movable plate 160 isarranged at the retreat position and the movable punch 180′ is opened,the supporting body 23 of the normal portion of the molding body 15 andan upper half portion of the leg portion 24 of the end portionneighborhood 16 are fitted into the first positioning groove 152 a′ andthe second positioning groove 152 c′ of the fixed die 152′ respectively,while bringing a stepped portion 152 b′ located at the boundary portionbetween the normal portion of the molding body 15 and the end portionneighborhood 16 into contact with the stepped portion 152 b′ between thefirst positioning groove 152 a′ and the second positioning groove 152 c′of the fixed die 152′ to position the molding body 15 in thelongitudinal direction. At this time, the molding body is temporarilyfixed and set by a plurality of positioning and fixing pins 153′ thatare provided on the bottom surface of the first positioning groove 152a′.

As described above, when the molding body 15 is set, the end portion 17of the molding body 15 is set to protrude from one side of the fixed die152′, whereas an end surface of the leg portion 24 acting as a steppedportion 24 a at the boundary portion between the end portion 17 and theend portion neighborhood 16 is projected slightly from one side of thefixed die 152′. Then, the stepped portion 24 a, i.e., the end surface ofthe leg portion 24 is welded to the back surface of the end portion 17.

Then, the near infrared lamp 1102 of the near infrared heating device1101 is turned on (ON). Then, the near infrared ray emitted from thenear infrared lamp 1102 is irradiated onto the back surface side of theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20 in the end portion 17 ofthe molding body 15 (see arrows indicated in FIG. 22 and FIG. 23). Then,it is preferable that the near infrared ray should be irradiated to havean irradiation width that almost coincides with a width of the endportion 17 or that is wider than the width of the end portion 17.

As a result, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is heated andsoftened to keep the condition that the decorative layer 22 has asoftened level lower than the ornament body 21 of the molding main body20 in the end portion 17 of the molding body 15.

Then, the movable plate 160 is moved forward to a forward (lower, inthis case) end position by the press ram 158 during when the end portion17 of the molding body 15 is still kept in the softened state after theirradiation of the near infrared ray is stopped.

First, the movable plate 160 is moved forward to a predeterminedposition, and also the pushing plate 161 a of the pushing body 161 comesat first into contact with the decorative layer 22 of the molding body15. The pushing spring 162 is compressed elastically by the subsequentforward moving motion of the movable plate 160, and then the moldingbody 15 is pushed against the fixed die 152′ by a spring force of thepushing spring 162 via the pushing body 161. As a result, thepositioning and fixing pins 153′ encroach upon the bottom surface of thesupporting body 23 of the molding body 15, so that the molding body 15can be firmly fixed to the fixed die 152′ not to displace in thelongitudinal direction. At this point of time, the first movable punch180′ is moved to the position at which the underlying top end portion180′ is overlapped with the overlying end portion 17 to hold a clearancebetween them.

Then, the movable plate 160 is moved further forward and also the motor171 is operated. Then, the first movable punch 180′ is moved forward bythe feed shaft 172 in the direction that is perpendicular to the forwardmoving direction of the movable plate 160, i.e., the lateral directionthat is perpendicular to the vertical direction in the embodiment 6.

As a result, the first movable punch 180′ is moved forward in theoblique direction, which is the synthesized direction of the forwardmoving direction of the movable plate 160 and the directionperpendicular to such direction, to execute the mold closing motion withrespect to the fixed die 152′.

The movable plate 160 is moved toward the forward end position at whichthe moving-late side stopper 167 comes into contact with the fixedstopper 166, and also the first movable punch 180′ is moved forward tothe forward end position in the oblique direction, i.e., the moldclosing position.

As shown in FIG. 23, when the first movable punch 180′ is moved forwardto a predetermined position, the top end portion 1801′ of the firstmovable punch 180′ is brought into contact with the portion near the topend portion of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15. Then, apushing force of the first movable punch 180′ is applied to the portionnear the top end portion of the end portion 17 of the molding body 15.Thus, such end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is gradually bentdownward (see FIG. 24).

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 25, the first movable punch 180′ is movedforward to the mold closing position. Accordingly, the end portion 17 ofthe molding body 15 is bent up to a predetermined bending angle θ(almost right angle) by the press working (bending), and also the endportion 17 is bent at an almost right angle in the cavity 1110 betweenthe forming surface 1520′ of the fixed die 152′ and the forming surface1800′ of the first movable punch 180′ to form the end bending portion19. At this time, since the back surface near the root portion of theend portion 17 and the stepped portion 24 a (end surface of the legportion 24) at the boundary portion between the end portion 17 and theend portion neighborhood 16 are welded mutually, the event that the endbending portion (the end cover portion 11 of the molding 10 as the finalproduct) 19 tends to return to its original shape can be furtherprevented.

As shown in FIG. 25, when the first movable punch 180′ is closed ontothe fixed die 152′, the top end of the end bending portion 19 stillremains in the cavity 1110 and neighborhood of the top end portion ofthe second movable punch 191 is positioned in the remaining cavityportion 1111 that is positioned on the top end side of the end bendingportion 19.

Subsequently to the above bending, the second movable punch 191 is movedforward to the top end portion of the end bending portion 19 in thedirection that a volume of the cavity 1110 is reduced, by using thefluid pressure cylinder 194, which is operated and controlled by thecontrol unit 190, as the driving source while the end bending portion 19is still softened.

As shown in FIG. 26, when the second movable punch 191 is moved forwardto the position at which the pushing surface 192 at the top end of thesecond movable punch 191 comes into contact with the top end portion ofthe end bending portion 19, the pushing surface 192 at the top end ofthe second movable punch 191 pushes up the top end of the end bendingportion 19 by the subsequent forward moving motion of the second movablepunch 191 to apply the pushing force thereto. Accordingly, thecompressive force is applied to the material constituting the endbending portion 19. Then, the second movable punch 191 is moved forwardup to the predetermined forward end position, so that the molding 10having the end cover portion 11 with a predetermined shape ismanufactured.

Then, in the condition that the first movable punch 180′ is closed, theend cover portion 11 is cooled and solidified and also the secondmovable punch 191 is moved backward to the original retreat position.

Then, the movable plate 160 and the first movable punch 180′ are movedbackward to their original retreat positions. Then, the molding 10having the end cover portion 11 is released from the fixed die 152′,whereby the steps of manufacturing the molding 10 as the final productare completed.

As described above, according to this embodiment 6, the compressiveforce is applied to the end bending portion 19 by causing the secondmovable punch 191 to move toward the direction that a volume of thecavity 1110 between both forming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ of the fixed die152′ and the first movable punch 180′ is reduced. Accordingly, a part ofthe material constituting the end bending portion 19 is filled in thecavity 1110 in the compressed state and is pushed tightly against bothforming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ of the fixed die 152′ and the firstmovable punch 180′, so that the end cover portion 11 having the goodexternal appearance, onto front and back surfaces of which shapes of theforming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ are transferred, can be formed.

Since the end cover portion 11 is formed in this manner, occurrence ofuneven distortion on the surface (the decorative surface, i.e., thesurface of the decorative layer 22) of the end cover portion 11 can beprevented and thus the molding 10 having the end cover portion 11 thatis good-looking and has a pleasing external appearance can bemanufactured effectively.

In this embodiment 6, in this first movable punch 180′, the formingsurface 1800′ used to form the surface side of the end cover portion 11and the surface that is in almost parallel with the surface of themolding body 15, i.e., the sandwiching surface 180 a′ are connectedcontinuously via the internal angle portion 1802′, which is formed witha radius of curvature that is smaller than a radius of curvature of theend bending portion 19 of the molding body 15.

Therefore, when the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is bent towardthe back surface side by the forward moving motion of the first movablepunch 180′, such end portion 17 is bent upon the back surface side asthe bending center (in FIG. 22, the bending center position P) and thusthe surface side of the end portion 17 is extended in the longitudinaldirection. Then, the surface side of the end bending portion 19 is bentwith a radius of curvature that is larger than a radius of curvature ofthe internal angle portion 1802′ of the first movable punch 180′. Forthis reason, a clearance is formed between the internal angle portion1802′ of the first movable punch 180′ and the surface of the bentportion of the end bending portion 19 (see FIG. 25).

However, after the end bending portion 19 is formed in the cavity 1110between both forming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ of the fixed die 152′ and thefirst movable punch 180′, the second movable punch 191 is moved so as toreduce a volume of the cavity 1110 during when at least the neighborhoodof the bending center portion of the end bending portion 19 is kept inits fluid state. As a result, the compressive force is applied to theend bending portion 19 and then the material of the end bending portion19 flows into the clearance on the inner side of the internal angleportion 1802′ of the first movable punch 180′ to fill it. Then, thematerial of the end bending portion 19 is cooled and solidified in thiscondition, whereby the end cover portion 11 having a sharp edge portionthat coincides with a shape of the internal angle portion 1802′ of thefirst movable punch 180′ is formed.

Also, in this embodiment 6, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 isbent in the situation that the temperature of the top end side of theend portion 17 of the molding body 15 is set lower than the temperatureof the neighborhood of the bending center portion and/or the hardness ofthe top end side is set higher than the hardness of the neighborhood ofthe bending center portion. For example, in this embodiment 1, the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 is bent while maintaining thecondition that the temperature near the top end portion of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 is lower than the temperature of theneighborhood of the bending center position P. Hence, when the secondmovable punch 191 is moved forward and the pushing surface 192 at itstop end comes into contact with the material of the top end of the endbending portion 19, the hardness of the top end side of the end bendingportion 19 is kept high rather than the neighborhood of the centerportion. Accordingly, leakage of the material in the neighborhood of thetop end portion of the end bending portion 19 to the outside of thecavity 1110 can be prevented. In other words, the material of the endbending portion 19 can be compressed sufficiently, and thus the endcover portion 11 having a good-looking external appearance can be formedby preventing disadvantages caused due to lack of the compressive force.

Also, in this embodiment 1, when the molding body 15 is set in the fixeddie 152′ in the state that the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 isprotruded from one side of the fixed die 152 a′ projection length L1 ofthe end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is set longer than a length L2of the finally-formed end cover portion 11 and is set shorter than alength L3 of the forming surface 1800′ of the first movable punch 180′.Therefore, as shown in FIG. 25, when the first movable punch 180′ isclosed onto the fixed die 152′, the top end of the end bending portion19 still remains in the cavity 1110. Then, the second movable punch 191is moved forward into the remaining cavity portion 1111 positioned onthe top end side of the end bending portion 19 to compress the materialof the end bending portion 19.

In this fashion, the end bending portion 19 is formed by bending the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 in the cavity 1110 and then the secondmovable punch 191 is moved forward into the remaining cavity portion1111 to compress the material of the end bending portion 19. As aresult, the end bending portion 19 can be compressed effectively andalso the end cover portion 11 can be formed satisfactorily.

Embodiment 7

Next, an embodiment 7 of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIG. 27 herein after.

As shown in FIG. 27, the driving mechanism of the movable punch 180′,which is moved and guided by the guiding mechanism using the guidingrails 175 provided to one side surface of the movable plate 160 in thedirection that is perpendicular to the forward and backward movingdirections of the movable plate 160 (e.g., lateral directionperpendicular to the vertical direction), is exchanged for a cammechanism that is different from the embodiment 6.

More particularly, in an embodiment 7 of the present invention, arod-like cam follower 177 is fixed to the side surface of the movablepunch 180′ in the oblique state whose angle is set to an angle ½·θ,where θ is a bending angle. In contrast, a plurality of rollers 178 a,178 b are fitted to the side surface of the fixed die 152′ to correspondto the cam follower 177. A cam groove 178 for guiding the cam follower177 between these plural rollers 178 a, 178 b is formed. Then, the cammechanism consists of the cam follower 177 and the cam groove 178.

Since other configurations of the embodiment 7 are constructed similarlyto the embodiment 6, their explanation will be omitted herein byaffixing the same reference symbols to the same constituent portions.

Therefore, in this embodiment 7, the end portion 17 of the molding body15 is heated and softened by the near infrared heating device 1101 tomaintain still the condition that the decorative layer 22 of the endportion 17 of the molding body 15 has the softened level lower than theornament body 21 of the molding main body 20.

Then, when the movable plate 160 is moved forward to the forward endposition by the press ram 158, the first movable punch 180′ is alsomoved forward by a cam action executed by the cam follower 177 and thecam groove 178 in the oblique direction, which is the synthesizeddirection of the forward moving direction of the movable plate 160 andthe direction perpendicular to such direction, to carry out the moldclosing motion.

Accordingly, the end portion 17 of the molding body 15 is bent by thepress working (bending) in the cavity 1110 between both forming surfaces1520′, 1800′ of the fixed die 152′ and the first movable punch 180′ by apredetermined bending angle θ (almost right angle) to form the endbending portion 19. Then, like the embodiment 6, the second movablepunch 191 is moved in the direction that reduces a volume of the cavity1110 between both forming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ of the fixed die 152′and the first movable punch 180′, to apply the compressive force to theend bending portion 19. As a result, a part of the material constitutingthe end bending portion 19 is filled while compressing in the cavity1110 and is pushed tightly against both forming surfaces 1520′, 1800′ ofthe fixed die 152′ and the first movable punch 180′ and the internalangle portion 1802′ of the first movable punch 180′ respectively,whereby the end cover portion 11 having the pleasant external appearanceis formed.

As described above, since the driving mechanism of the first movablepunch 180′ is constructed by the cam mechanism consisting of the camfollower 177 and the cam groove 178, it is possible to cause the firstmovable punch 180′ to execute the precise repeating operation and alsoit is possible to simplify the structure of the molding manufacturingsystem.

In this case, it is preferable that the setting angle of the camfollower 177 should be set to ½·θ (e.g., 45 degree). But such settingangle of the cam follower 177 may be adjusted and set freely by changingappropriately a fitting position (fitting angle) of the cam follower 177with respect to the first movable punch 180′.

Also, the cam follower 177 and the cam groove 178 may be provided in theopposite manner to the above embodiment 7, i.e., the cam follower 177may be provided to the fixed die 152′ and the cam groove 178 may beprovided to the first movable punch 180′.

In this case, it is similar to the embodiment 6 that the moving locus ofthe first movable punch 180′ is decided such that the first movablepunch 180′ is moved along the line with an angle ½·θ from the positionimmediately before the mold closing position to the mold closingposition.

In this case, the molding manufacturing system according to the presentinvention is not limited to the above embodiments 1 to 5.

For example, in the above embodiments 1 to 5, the case where the nearinfrared heating device 101, the intermediate infrared heating device,or the far infrared heating device is used as the heating device isexemplified. But the heating device using the hot air (hot blast) may beused in addition to such infrared heating devices.

In the above embodiments 1 to 5, the motor 71 and the feed shaft 72 areused as a driving mechanism for actuating the movable punch 80. Instead,a fluid pressure cylinder 2000 may be used as the driving mechanism, asshown in FIG. 28.

Also, in the above embodiments 1 to 5, the case where the decorativelayer 22 is provided along the longitudinal direction on the surfaceside, i.e., on the surface of the ornament body 21 in a layered fashionin the molding main body 20 constituting the main portion of the molding10 (molding forming body) is exemplified. But the decorative layer 22 isprovided as the case may be, and thus the structure without thedecorative layer 22 may be employed.

Also, in the above embodiments 1 to 3, the case where the molding 10corresponds to the roof molding is exemplified. But the moldingmanufacturing system of the present invention may be embodied if themolding such as the side protection molding, the bumper molding, or thelike is employed in addition to the roof molding.

In the above embodiments 6 and 7, the structure that the first movablepunch 180′ is moved forward and backward in the oblique direction to thefixed die 152′ is employed. But the end portion 17 of the molding body15 may be bent by moving forward and backward the first movable punch180′ in the direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinaldirection of the molding body 15 being set on the fixed die 152′ (e.g.,the vertical direction).

Also, in the above embodiments 6 and 7, the cases where the nearinfrared heating device 1101, the intermediate infrared heating device,and the far infrared heating device are used as the infrared heatingdevice are exemplified. But the heating device using the hot air (hotblast) may be employed in addition to the infrared heating device.

Also, in the above embodiments 6 and 7, the case where the decorativelayer 22 is provided in a layered fashion along the longitudinaldirection of the surface of the ornament body 21 of the molding mainbody 20 constituting the main body portion of the molding 10 (moldingbody 15) is exemplified. But the decorative layer 22 is provided as thecase may be, and thus the structure without the decorative layer 22 maybe employed.

Also, in the above embodiments 6 and 7, the case where the molding 10corresponds to the roof molding is exemplified. Even if the molding suchas a side protection molding, a bumper molding, or the like is employedin addition to the roof molding, the molding manufacturing method of thepresent invention may be carried out.

As described above, according to the invention, the end cover portioncan be formed by bending the end portion of the long molding bodysatisfactorily. Also, occurrence of uneven distortion, etc. on thedecorative surface of the end cover portion and its neighborhood can beprevented.

According to the invention, the back surface side out of the moldingmain body in the end portion of the molding body is heated by the heatradiation, while the surface side (decorative layer side) is heated bythe thermal conduction from the back surface. At this time, since theback surface side is never heated excessively, disadvantages such thatthe back surface of the molding body in the end portion of the moldingbody is heated excessively and melt away, a burn occurs, etc. can beprevented. As a result, the end cover portion can be shaped into thedesired shape more satisfactorily.

According to the invention, the molding main body in the end portion ofthe molding body can be heated and softened quickly by the penetratingenergy, which is one characteristic of the near infrared ray, from theback surface to the inner side. As a result, improvement in theproductivity of the molding can be achieved by shortening the heatingand softening time of the end portion of the molding body.

According to the invention, the molding main body can be heated andsoftened almost uniformly over the almost full length of the end portionof the molding body by employing the energy required for the heatingeffectively. Therefore, the disadvantage caused by nonuniformity of thesoftened level, e.g., the bending failure of the end portion of themolding body can be prevented.

According to the invention, the end cover portion can be formed bymoving the second movable punch in the direction that reduces a volumeof the cavity so as to push tightly the material constituting the endbending portion against the forming surface. Therefore, occurrence ofuneven distortion, etc. on the surface (decorative surface) of the endcover portion can be prevented, and also the molding having the endcover portion with the pleasing external appearance can be manufacturedeffectively.

According to the invention, the end cover portion having a sharp edgeportion, which coincides with a shape of the internal angle portion ofthe first movable punch, can be formed easily by pouring a part ofmaterial of the end bending portion of the molding body into aclearance, which is generated in the internal angle portion of the firstmovable punch, to bring tightly the material into contact with suchclearance.

According to the invention, the material of the end bending portion canbe compressed effectively by the forward moving motion of the secondmovable punch. Therefore, the molding having the end cover portion withthe good-looking external appearance can be manufactured moreeffectively.

According to the invention, leakage of the material of the end bendingportion near the top end portion to the outside of the cavity can beprevented. Therefore, the molding having the end cover portion with thepleasing external appearance can be formed by preventing thedisadvantage caused by lack of the compressive force of the material ofthe end bending portion.

According to the invention, the material of the end bending portion iscompressed by moving forward the second movable punch into the remainingcavity portion. Therefore, the end bending portion can be compressedeffectively and thus the end cover portion can be formed satisfactorily.

According to the invention, the end cover portion having the sharp edgeportion, which coincides with a shape of the internal angle portion ofthe first movable punch, can be formed easily.

According to the invention, dedicated guiding members for guidingforward and backward the second movable punch can be omitted, and thusreduction in cost can be achieved by simplifying the mold structurecorrespondingly.

According to the invention, the time and labor for heating the endportion of the molding body previously at another place (by separatesteps) can be eliminated, and also the disadvantages caused by theunexpected deformation of the end portion that is softened by theheating do not occur.

1. A molding manufacturing apparatus, comprising: a fixed die into whicha molding body is to be set, said fixed die being provided on a fixedtable; a movable plate arranged movably in forward and backwarddirections substantially perpendicular to a reference line along alongitudinal direction of the molding body set in said fixed die; amovable punch attached on said movable plate and guided movably inforward and backward directions substantially perpendicular to a movingdirection of said movable plate; and a driving mechanism for drivingsaid movable punch to move forward when said movable plate is movedforward; wherein said movable punch moves in an oblique direction toclose said fixed die therewith to bend and press form an end portion ofthe molding body into an end cover portion of the molding body, theoblique direction being a synthesized direction of a forward movingdirection of said movable plate and a forward moving direction of saidmovable punch.
 2. The molding manufacturing apparatus according to claim1, wherein said driving mechanism includes a driving source and alinking member which transmits a driving force of said driving source tosaid movable punch to shift said movable punch.
 3. The moldingmanufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said drivingsource includes an electric motor rotatable in a normal direction and areverse direction for actuating said movable punch in the forward andbackward directions; and wherein said linking member converts arotational motion into a linear motion.
 4. The molding manufacturingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein said driving source includes afluid cylinder for actuating said movable punch in the forward andbackward directions.
 5. The molding manufacturing apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising a control unit that detects a traveldistance of said movable plate and controls said driving mechanismaccording to the detected travel distance.
 6. The molding manufacturingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said driving mechanism includesa cam mechanism having a cam follower and a cam groove.
 7. The moldingmanufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fixed die hasa back forming surface for forming a back surface of the end portion andsaid movable punch has a front forming surface for forming a frontsurface of the end portion, and wherein said back forming surface andsaid front forming surface bend and press the end portion of the moldingbody to bend at either a substantially right angle, an acute angle or anobtuse angle.
 8. The molding manufacturing apparatus according to claim1, further comprising: a heating unit which is provided to said fixedtable and heats a back surface of the end portion.
 9. The moldingmanufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said heating unitincludes an infrared heating device.
 10. The molding manufacturingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fixed die includes apositioning groove into which the end portion neighborhood of themolding body is fitted.
 11. The molding manufacturing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said movable plate further comprises apushing means for pushing a portion of the molding body at apredetermined position excluding the end portion, to preventdisplacement in a longitudinal direction.
 12. The molding manufacturingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper means forstopping said movable plate at a forward end position, said stoppermeans being provided between said fixed table and said movable plate.13. The molding manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, furthercomprising a second movable punch capable of changing a volume of acavity formed between said front forming surface and said back formingsurface.
 14. The molding manufacturing apparatus according to claim 13,further comprising a second driving mechanism including a second drivingsource and a second linking member which transmits a driving force ofsaid second driving source to said second movable punch to shift saidsecond movable punch.
 15. The molding manufacturing apparatus accordingto claim 13, wherein said movable punch has an internal angle portionbeing formed continuously with said front forming surface and having aradius of curvature smaller than a radius of curvature of a surface ofthe end bending portion of the molding body.
 16. The moldingmanufacturing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said secondmovable punch is guided by said back forming surface of said fixed dieto move forward and backward while being in contact therewith; andwherein the volume of said cavity is reduced by a forward moving motionof said second movable punch.